Tests For Preschool May Be Misleading

Only about 2 percent of the children who ''fail'' standardized tests used to measure their readiness for kindergarten ought to be held back, a University of Michigan psychologist says.

Ralph Gibson calls the tests of preschoolers' language, motor and perceptual skills antiquated and inconclusive. Some of the most commonly used tests were developed in the 1930s and have been used without modification since, Gibson says. Furthermore, the tests fail to take into account that at age 4 children develop rapidly, so a child who appears clumsy or slow in the spring may have acquired all the skills needed for kindergarten by summer.

Far more important than children's test results, Gibson says, is how they handle their emotions.

Parents traumatized by reports that their children did not do well enough on tests to enter kindergarten should seek a second opinion from a child psychologist, Gibson says. ''There's no way a kid can fail kindergarten.''